These guys fitted new tyres to my car. One of the tyres subsequently kept deflating so I took it…read moreback to them. The problem was corrosion of my alloy wheel so they brushed it down and resealed the tyre free of charge. Great service. Will use them again.

From the owner: We have all the answers to your motoring needsread more

Half of my graduating class were self-proclaimed photographers, angstfully capturing the "essence…read morethat is life" with ridiculously expensive cameras, so you can't blame me for being a tad sceptical about photography. I finally made it in to the gallery after walking past it quite a few times, and I wasn't disappointed at all. There's a pretty cool exhibition on show at the moment, which should last throughout the whole festival, called the Pursuit of Fidelity (very deep name ofcourse....). I won't say I'm a convert, but it was definitely a good way to pass time! What's even more interesting about Stills is the opportunity to get quite involved if this is your sort of thing; they have impressive darkrooms we were lucky enough to check out, and actually offer professional training for would-be photographers! I fleetingly considered it... as it would probably be a nice break from university for a while.

If you happen to just be wandering up or down Cockburn Street, trying to avoid all the uber…read moreexpensive shops that seem to just stare you down, in a vigorous attempt to get you to give into purchasing pretty unnecessary items, stop by Stills instead. Why? 1) Because you don't have to pay anything to go in and ogle some hit-or-miss photography and 2) Because checking out someone's photographs beats ogling ridiculously expensive clothes any day. And though the people who work there might seem disaffected and indifferent to your presence, it's probably just because they've been sitting in the same place for a few hours with nothing to do. If you have any questions, though, they tend to perk up and become willing to give you a hand. Stills isn't just a gallery, though. There they have digital labs and darkrooms and all sort of delicious photographic facilities that you can use (at a price, of course). They also hold workshops from time to time. Once you've been to Stills once, it becomes a bit of an addiction. The huge windows that give you a peek of whatever exhibition is in there at the moment, beckon to you with open arms. And they're not even trying to take your money. Who woulda figured!

There's no such thing as a free lunch, and quite rightly, there's also no such thing as free…read morechocolate biscuits and coffee! But when you do the good deed of giving a pint of your own blood that's just what you will get. It really doesn't hurt and the staff are brilliant in helping you through the process. Biggest thing, when you give blood, you are potentially saving someone's life - why wouldn't you want to be a life-saver? There's now a booking system in place so give them a call in advance and take advantage of the late night openings. They even do group bookings so you can get a gang of friends to help you along if it's your first time.

I've only recently become able to give blood, as I'd previously been under the minimum weight…read morelimit, but when Christmas came and went and I found myself teetering at the limit I decided that before I lose any weight I'd go and give blood. I had a look on the website beforehand and realised I was unable to book a slot online (I believe this is possible with the Glasgow centre), so I decided just to show up at 11am on a Saturday. Which was a silly idea as of course they were very busy at this time, particularly so as a large group of friends had all arrived together. It turns out that regular donors get fast-tracked, which was frustrating as I sat in the waiting area for an hour seeing people who had only just come in get seen near enough straight away. I did ask about this a couple of times, and eventually I was told it was because I'm a new donor. I completely understand this, but it ought to have been explained to myself and the other new donors who had to wait a very long time when we first arrived, as it is off-putting and frustrating. That's the only reason it's not getting 5 stars really. When I was eventually seen the nurses were friendly and helpful, though a little concerned because of my slightness. All risks were explained to me, and they were happy to let me go ahead if I was happy to, which I was. I was advised to go and drink some water before heading through to the donor suite, which I did, and when I arrived in the suite I only had to wait a couple of minutes before being shown to a bed myself. The donation took ten minutes or so (it won't take longer than fifteen as the machine cuts out after then). Unfortunately for me the needle had gone in next to a nerve, so it was really rather painful, but a couple of pumps of the ligature dulled the pain sufficiently to let me continue. And after I'd donated when I felt a bit faint, I got to be tipped upside down - fun! And then it's on to refreshments, juice, tea, coffee and as much Tunnock's as you can fit in your mouth. A welcome reward for a good deed. Assuming I am still able to give blood in a few months' time I will, as I know the pain I experienced is rare, and if I'm able to help save someone's life for only a few minutes' discomfort to myself I'm more than happy to! Why wouldn't anyone?!

I had a massage and facial a few weeks ago at Total Image and I felt wonderfully relaxed…read moreafterwards. I had bought a voucher because I can't afford the regular prices for facials and I would definitely recommend them. The lady who massaged me and did my facial was really nice and very professional. I felt looked after all the time I was there.

Lauriston Buildings has a wide range of healthcare departments such as Ear, nose and throat,…read moreaudiology, dermatology, dental services and orthopaedics. I regularly visit the audiology department for hearing aid repairs and batteries and the staff are always so friendly and provide a quick and thorough service, J. JaKobs is wonderful. The X-ray and ultrasound department however I feel the staff could be a bit friendlier and more helpful. I visited recently and my impression of the consultant was that she wanted you in, don't ask questions and get out, so I definitely thought she needed to work on her bedside manner. The cafe was a bit dire too, not much on offer, nothing that looked extremely appetising and hot drinks came in polystyrene cups which in this day and age is extremely basic. The staff (a man and a woman) although good at their jobs, friendly, polite and hardworking, it seemed they were both trying to compete to see who could do the most jobs, who could do them better, who was in charge. So although Lauriston Buildings offer a great service and most staff members are polite and friendly, the building itself and the cafe needs updated and modernised.

beautiful smelling body creams, rhe muscle rub in particular smells wonderful. The staff are…read morehelpful a f knowledgeable.

As a very health conscious individual (read hypochondriac) Napiers was always going to be a winner…read morefor me. Napiers was established in Edinburgh in 1860 and this store on Bristo Place is where it all started. Victorian botanist Duncan Napier was the magician behind these health potions and up until the 1970's Napiers was passed from generation to generation as a family run business. After the death of the last family member in the line of Napiers to carry out this tradition the business closed down and it wasn't until the 1990's that it was revived - thank goodness for that! Many of the old recipes were found so the store is still true to the original. All medicine here is herbal medicine so it's reassuring that everything is natural. I used to take paracetamol whenever I had the slightest ache or pain but after living in Germany for a year I was a bit lost as you can't even buy paracetamol/cough syrup/ibuprofen anything medicinal without a prescription, but they do have an abundance of shops like Napiers and I found many of the natural products actually worked better and even when I went to the doctors I was given natural medicine as a prescription and a list of health foods to eat/foods to avoid. I guess it's a bit more informative than going to the doctors here and just getting crap that knocks you out. Due to the history and this being the original Napiers store, this branch has a great lived in atmosphere, they have little potted plants outside surrounding the doorway and inside it's bright and airy. The staff here are also very knowledgeable so whatever your ailment they will be able to recommend something for you. This branch is a dispensary but also doubles up as a clinic where you can get treatments such as massage, acupuncture etc.

After a heavy night on the tiles in my first year I caught a bad batch of the flu which was…read moreaccompanied by earache that was making me writhe. I headed to Newington Pharmacy and the kind lady directed me to some Lemsip and eardrops. It came to less than £5 and helped subdue my ailments. The shop, although not the most fully stocked of chemists, is neatly arranged with the essential cures to most mild aches, pains and illnesses. I came here last year for a lightweight support bandage when my ankle was giving me some trouble from rugby. It was equally cheap and did the trick. Newington Parmacy offers friendly, sympathetic service and a pretty good range of products, making it a viable alternative to the well known pharmaceutical giants on the high street.

This place almost makes me wish I'd been born 50 years earlier, when people got their shopping from…read moretheir local butcher/pharmacist/fishmonger rather than an international chain. When you come in here, you'll always get a nod, hello, smile or all of the above, but then you're left to browse for whatever it is you're after without being spied on or made to feel awkward. It's quite nice when you go in to pick up a pack of strepsils and lemsip, for the flu you invariably get living in Edinburgh over winter, and they actually notice you're ill, and tell you they hope you feel better or recommend a particular flavour of herbal tea they swear by etc etc. It's a bit like buying medicines from your Granny. The only downside, in fact, is that sometimes because it's quite small there isn't often a huge selection of things to choose from, so sometimes you do need to trudge further up the street to Boots or Tesco. But when I can, I always buy from here.

We met Kasia from Malishka Photography while we were looking for a wedding photographer and decided…read moreto choose her for a number of reasons the photographs in her portfolio were stunning and she put together exactly the package we wanted for an extremely reasonable price (especially by comparison to some of photographers in Edinburgh!) and didn't try to force us to buy other bits and pieces we didn't need. The other big plus for us was that she gave us the right to reproduce the images as we wanted we couldn't believe the number of wedding photographers we contacted who expected to retain the copyright and for you only to get reproductions done by them. What turned out to be a real bonus for us however, as neither of us are big fans of having our photograph taken, was the pre-wedding shoot included which gave us a chance to get used to being photographed, and for Kasia to get used to working with us. Any anticipation or nerves we felt about being in front of the camera were completely removed by Kasia's warm manner and approach and the images she produced for us from the pre-wedding shoot gave us total confidence (and even some excitement!) about having her as our photographer for the wedding. On the wedding day she must have been everywhere but virtually invisible as at no point did she intrude - even our guests commented on how discrete she was by comparison to their experiences at other weddings. The best bit however had to be, without a doubt, the end product and our wedding photographs are absolutely stunning; she managed to capture the feeling of the day and the venue beautifully as well as lots of wonderfully informal ones from the ceremony and reception. She even managed to surprise us by having taken pictures of lots of elements, like our cake and the place settings, which we wouldn't even have thought to have asked to be photographed. Her approach remained flexible even after the wedding and it was no problem for us to add on extra images to our order when we'd seen the proofs as there was too many we loved! Overall we can't thank her enough for capturing our day so well; we wouldn't hesitate to use her again ourselves and would definitely recommend her to anyone especially those put off by half of the overpriced, stuffy professionals you meet at wedding fairs!

From the owner: Wedding and Portrait Photography, Commercial, Event Photographyread more

I went to Lochrin Autos to get a puncture repaired and they told me I needed a brand new tyre…read morepretty much straight away. I had been advised by my boyfriend that places often try to do this when it is not neccessary so I questioned him and asked him to show me why. After a bit of back and forthing, it turned out I didn't need one and he just fixed my puncture- oh surprise! Just wanted to give aheads up to anyone else going to get a puncture repaired anywhere, not just here.

They tried to overcharge me and claimed that I needed expensive work done.I took it to another…read moremechanic who said there was no issues whatsoever. The owner was there, who was shouting and swearing at someone over the phone about a council tax bill he'd never paid. Avoid